On the recordJune 19, 2013
I rise in support of the nomination of Michael Froman to be the next U.S. Trade Representative. Right now, there is a leadership vacuum in this country when it comes to international trade. That is especially true at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. A recent study by the Office of Personnel Management, which survey's employee satisfaction at executive branch agencies, found that USTR ranks near the bottom among small agencies in almost every category, including effective leadership. Unfortunately, this is not a new trend--the agency has been in steady decline since 2009. This is due both to a lack of real leadership and the fact that, with Trade Promotion Authority expired, our trade negotiators don't have the tools needed to do their job. To date, there has been no real effort by President Obama to secure TPA renewal. While I was pleased that President Obama announced this week that the United States and the European Union will soon begin formal negotiations on a trade agreement, I was surprised and dismayed that the President did not even mention TPA once in his remarks. This is incredible to me. It is easy to stand up and make speeches about trade. But real progress won't come by launching initiatives and talking about them. Getting our trade agenda right requires real leadership and the ability to get the agreements negotiated and approved by Congress. That simply won't happen without TPA. Members of Congress have fought to fix this problem.…
